So I’m new to Darktable and so far very happy with it as a Lightroom replacement. I’ve gone through Bruce Williams’ excellent Darktable 4 for new users videos, and they really helped me understand what’s going on, and how this works from a big-picture perspective. I can see that before too long I won’t miss Lightroom at all.
But I find myself a bit frustrated figuring out what modules I should be using. I’m not trying to do anything complicated (yet!) but I find myself just constantly stymied with warnings about multiple modules doing the same thing, and honestly getting my colors to pop is proving frustrating.
So … I wonder if you kind people could help me out. It feels like a dumb question, but I’m banging my head against the wall. (Even going through YouTube, it feels like I keep finding videos that spend an inordinate amount of time explaining filmic RGB or something like that, and not just a straightforward walkthrough: “here are some portraits. Here are the steps I’m using, and what modules I’m using to do them.” And I’m like - should I be using Filmic RGB for basic contrast adjustments? It seems really powerful - but is it the right tool?)
All I want is basic, straightforward photo-developing stuff:
White balance, contrast, color saturation, tone curves, highlight reconstruction, black point.
You know, the kind of stuff I need to make the RAW file look as good as the JPG from the back of the camera.
I feel confident that if I just had the right 5-8 modules I could do everything I needed to do to these pictures with a minimum of fuss. But I am banging my head against a wall trying to just get the right dang modules so that everything works (I’m using a scene-referred workflow, which I won’t claim to understand but I gather that it’s a better choice). I’m even pausing videos to try to see what they have in their module stack but it seems like the modules have changed from version 3 to version 4.
So, pretty please, can you kind people help me figure out which modules I should be using to get the really basic “make the photo look good” stuff done with a minimum of fuss?
Go to the Editing moments channel in DT…the only one you need to answer this… there are now a full range of videos…including a few dedicated to explaining and working with color… DT does not add a big contrast or saturation bump like you see in LR so you need to add this yourself…it may seem heavy handed… and also just stop thinking about it as a LR replacement …its a whole different animal…
I think the only real change, module wise, is the addition of Sigmoid, which is easier to use than Filmic (don’t use both at the same time). Of course, Sigmoid also gives you less control, so that’s a trade-off you’ll have to make.
Here’s a tutorial that shows the most basic workflow you can probably get away with:
It’s based on DT 3.6, so might be a little outdated in some aspects, but nothing important for learning.
Several other very useful videos in that channel. Can be a bit technical, but you’ll learn a lot.
i think you’re absolutely right, the 5-8 modules you need are there, and once you find them you won’t need much else, in general. There will always be special situations where some extremely specific knowledge would be helpful, and well, that is what the community is for.
My first suggestion is to submit some photo(s) you’re having trouble with to our Play Raw category. People will edit them and post their sidecar files. You can take the renditions you like, load the sidecar file, and see what they’ve done.
Talking about this in the abstract will only get you so far. Getting hands on with some images would be the most helpful.
My editing routine is more or less this:
While you’re capturing your image, do everything possible not to clip your highlights. You can recover a ton of information from the shadows. Bracket if necessary. Do what you need to do in order to capture the full dynamic range of the scene. With that said, I’ll leave highlight reconstruction out. I start with it turned off and I don’t often need it since I’m exposing carefully.
Turn on lens correction.
Use Rotate and Perspective to level the horizon or make things straight
Use the Exposure module to make your mid tones to the desired brightness.
Use Filmic RGB module > Look tab > Contrast to contract or stretch the histogram so that the contrast is pleasing. I generally stretch the histogram so the highlights touch the front. If needed, I increase the White Relative exposure just a bit.
Use the Diffuse or Sharpen module’s “Add Local Contrast” preset. Increase the Iterations slider if you desire more local contrast
Use Color Balance RGB’s preset to add color back in. The most vibrant one is nice for landscapes and city scapes.
Use the Crop module to crop as desired.
Use Tone Equalizer to manipulate the over all contrast of the scene.
Add a vignette using the vignette module.
You should have a very accepable looking image at this point. When I’m editing, from this point on is local edits using the modules masking features. For that I mostly use:
Tone Equalizer and masking for dodging/burning or altering tones
Color Balance RGB and masking for manipulating colors
My approach uses I think 5-6 modules regularly, so about right
I’m on 4.2, btw, which I recommend (or 4.2.1) as the sigmoid module which I really like is not there on earlier releases.
exposure
sigmoid - usually the contrast slider, sometimes the skew (to shift contrast to highlights or shadows)
tone equalizer - for taming dynamic range as I often like quite a lot of contrast in sigmoid, then I use tone eq rather like the highlights/shadows sliders in Lr. I usually start with the the compress highlights (gf) medium preset, then adjust the masking controls to the available dynamic range then tweak the curve
white balance - see below
color calibration - I love the more creative controls in this module, in the colorfulness and brightness tabs. Sometimes I use the channel mixer controls too. Best used in a new instance if CC is being used for white balance purposes.
color balance rgb - adding contrast in sigmoid also adds saturation, so I often only need smaller tweaks in here, plus the 4 ways tab is quite a close match to Lr’s color grading controls.
diffuse and sharpen - the sharpen demosicing preset often, sometimes a custom preset for a heavier/coarser sharpening instead.
I suppose I should add crop and rotate and perspective to the list.
color zones occasionally
If you follow this route, make sure filmic is turned off to start with - I have “auto-apply pixel workflow defaults” set to none in preferences, so it’s off by default.
That’s it usually! regarding point 4 - color calibration is the recommended option for white balance control.
But if dt is set to “legacy” under the processing tab in the preferences (depending on the version it’s either “legacy in “chromatic adaption”” or “none” in auto-apply pixel workflow defaults" you can just use the controls in the white balance module, which is simpler (I think) and works very well in most cases. (but I may just be eccentric ).
On images already edited you can just switch off color calibration, then use the white balance module. I only mention all this as I find the color calibration module (which works in tandem with the white balance module set to 'camera reference) can be confusing when one’s new to it,and can actually make matters worse on occasion. Warnings about multiple modules are usually to do with this btw.
First of all, make sure to read the manual: resources | darktable
It will explain a lot of things that you won’t always get from video tutorials.
Are you getting warnings in the UI? While there are legitimate use-cases that trigger those warnings, as a new user it’s a sign that you’re doing something you probably shouldn’t be doing.
The main tool for this is Color Balance RGB. But if you use Sigmoid instead of Filmic, you may not need it. There are also the colorfulness and brightness tabs in Color Calibration.
Pro tip: The first instance of Color Calibration should only be used for white balance. All other adjustments (corrective or creative) should be in new instances.
I would say that understanding scene-referred is important for getting the most out of DT. For example, setting exposure correctly relies on understanding how middle-grey is handled.
The manual will tell you the essentials, but for a deeper understanding, this article is good: PIXLS.US - Darktable 3:RGB or Lab? Which Modules? Help!
The video tutorial I posted earlier is exactly what you want. Do a number of photos based on just that, until you feel you “understand” the process, and then start adding other modules. Of course, begin with properly exposed images, just to make it easier on yourself at first.
If you want, you can still use the display-referred workflow with 4.2.0. In my opinion, the modules are easier to understand and make it easier to get started.
level 1:
display-referred (switch it on in the global preferences)
white balance (only pick the grey from the picture)
base curve - preserve color: none, make a preset for your camera
exposure
lens correction (only on or off)
denoise profiled (only change the mode)
crop
rotate and perspective
shadow and highlights (only on or off or small slider changes)
color zones (for saturation, lightness and black and white)
tone curve or rgb curve
sharpen
contrast equalizer (only luma tab)
LUT 3D for black and white and other color effects/film simulations
vignetting
framing
watermark
level 2:
same as level 1 but use of
color balance (instead of color zones)
local contrast (maybe also in level 1)
level 3:
scene referred
white balance (only pick the grey from the picture)
exposure (for some cameras (fuji): create a preset with 1EV and turn it on for every picture)
lens correction (only on or off)
denoise profiled (only change the mode)
crop
rotate and perspective
sigmoid (create a preset to turn on for every picture and a preset for filmic to turn is off)
color balance rgb (use the standard presets and copy one of them to a own presets to turn it on for every picture)
sharpen
local contrast
contrast equalizer (only luma tab)
LUT 3D for black and white and other color effects
vignetting
framing
watermark
using simple masks
level 4:
same as level 3 but use of
tone equalizer
color calibration (for white balance - switch it on in the preferences)
filmic rgb instead of sigmoid
using complex masks
level 5:
same as level 4 but use of
color calibration (channel mixer for color grading)
diffuse and sharpen (if you have a fast GPU)
If you don’t want to start with the display-referred workflow, you can also start with level 3.
The display-referred modules can also be used in the scene-referred workflow. Not recommending them doesn’t mean they don’t work. Ultimately, it’s the result that matters.
Just using filmic, sigmoid, and basecurve at the same time is a bad idea.
… and in addition if you want/need it:
retouch (remove sensor-dust for example)
chromatic aberrations (if lens correction does not work)
Honestly, I’m not sure that’s a good way to go about learning DT. Sooner or later he’ll have to figure out scene-referred, so may as well just get it over with. And frankly, if you read the manual, it’s not that hard.
I think scene-referred is easy. Actually, I find it easier than display referred: not having to worry about clipping is great. That was one of the pain points for me with display-referred.
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